


Progressing Bond

by Nanostin



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 07:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanostin/pseuds/Nanostin
Summary: After making a deal with Himiko that involves getting along with a guy, Tenko spends her days with Rantaro, teaching him Neo-Aikido.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Friend fragments are send like friend requests by the Monopad

It has been three days since those sadistic bears announced that these sixteen talented high school students will have to take part in a killing game. Since then the students have been either thinking up ways to escape or simply adjusting to their new lives.

Tenko Chabashira, the ‘Ultimate Neo-Aikido Master’, has taken it upon herself to protect Himiko Yumeno, who she so greatly admires for her show performing presentations about magic. She has also made it her goal to protect all the girls from being taken advantage of by men.

It was free time for the students and just like every free time, Tenko decided to spend her time with Himiko. As usual, Himiko showed signs of annoyance to Tenko’s presence. Although this time, Himiko suggested something that caught the Aikido master by surprise. “Hey Tenko, how about you try to get along with one of the guys? You know, to help you get rid of that bias of yours?”

“Bias? Those menaces deserve the kind of treatment I gave them!”

“Yeah… tell you what, if you’re able to get at least one friendship fragment from a guy, then I’ll give you a friendship fragment of my own, okay?”

This deal was made more for the magician’s behalf, for she wanted time for herself and was positive that it’ll take Tenko at least a week to get one friendship fragment. Nonetheless, Tenko excitedly agreed, seeing this as a good opportunity to get closer to the girl whom she so desperately wants to befriend.

Tenko began to look at each of the boys report cards. As she was skimming through, the thought finally hit her of what she has to do exactly; she has to hang out with a boy, a degenerate. She sighed; this wasn’t going to be easy.

Thinking it thoroughly, Tenko decided to spend her time with Rantaro. Although she found his smooth way of talking and makeup skills to be highly suspicious, she figured that he’ll be the easiest one to change into an acceptable human being for society.

Locating him down with the map on her Monopad, Tenko found Rantaro to be outside, which is perfect for the activity that she has in mind. She walked her way to his location and called out to him. “Rantaro, let’s spend our free time together!”

Rantaro awoke from his thoughts and looked at Tenko with surprise, responding, “You’d want to spend your free time with me? Are you messing with me?”

“Messing with you? Why would you think that? Do you think that I’m a lowlife who goes around messing with people?!”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that… it surprises me that you’d want to spend your free time with a guy.”

Tenko completely calmed down after hearing that response. She actually felt a little bit of pride seeing that a male understood her no-men messages. But at that moment, such a message didn’t do any good for her.

“Normally you would be right,” Tenko gave an impressed grin, “But right now, I really want to spend my free time with you, to teach you Neo-Aikido!”

Rantaro was silent with a puzzled expression as if he was trying to figure out something that was rather complex.

“What? Do you still believe that I’m joking?” Tenko asked, trying to do some figuring out herself. Rantaro gave off an answer by shaking his head ‘no’.

“I’m just surprised that you want to hang out with a guy as suspicious as myself,” Rantaro chuckled uneasily, “I mean, I don’t even know what my talent is.”

“That’s exactly why I want to teach you Neo-Aikido! It could be something you’re good at. Also, Neo-Aikido makes a person forty percent better, even suspicious degenerates such as yourself!” Tenko gleamed.

Brushing the ‘degenerate’ insult aside, Rantaro found her enthuisium to be amusing and charming in a way. “You know, I wasn’t planning on spending my free time with anyone, but since you offered to teach me something as wonderful as Neo-Aikido, I’ll gladly spend my time with you.”

Hearing someone talk positively about her mastered form of art made a girl as energetic as Tenko jump off the ground excitedly. “Good answer! And since we’re on a field with a lot of space, I could teach you here.”  
. . .  
“Rantaro, don’t slack off on your form! Your arm should be up to your waist, and your fist needs to be more firm!” Tenko ordered.

By spending a good amount of time with Tenko, Rantaro picked up on how serious she takes her training lessons. With that in mind, he was trying his best to do what she instructed.

Tenko was pleased to see him fix his posture but noticed a slight mistake. “Very good! But your fist is a little tilted…” without thinking too much about it, she grabbed ahold of his fist and completely froze.

“Tenko? Are you okay?” Rantaro tilted his head in concern.

“Ah…ah…! You’re touching me!”

“What?”

“I could already feel my strength being drained! Ah!!” Tenko screamed out of panic and quickly swung Rantaro above her; flipping him over. Rantaro blacked out before he could even process what was going on.

Realizing what she’s done, Tenko’s panic increased. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!!” Tenko blurted although she’s aware that he’s unconscious. “Um… I’m just going to give you a friendship fragment…” she muttered as she pulled out her Monopad, “You could just give me one when you wake up…”

Once she sended him a friendship fragment, she planned on going to her room but couldn’t find it in herself to just leave him outside on the ground while he was unconscious. Without having much of a problem, she picked him up and thrust him over her shoulder. As she walked her way to his room, she prayed that no one will see her and gain a misunderstanding. Arriving at his room, she laid him on his bed and was about to leave when something caught her attention. 

‘His eyelashes are very gentle, how pretty…’ realizing what she was doing, Tenko blushed in shame and quickly exited the room without so much as a second glance.

She returned to her room and plopped herself down on her own bed, feeling disappointed as to what happened. Exhausted, she closed her eyes and took a quick peaceful nap. Waking up to the sound of a notification, Tenko picked up her Monopad from the shelf right by her bed and opened it up to see that she’s gotten a friendship fragment from Rantaro. She grinned widely in both gleefulness and relief. Since she’s gotten a fragment, her mission was complete, which means that she no longer has to hang out with Rantaro. But she decided to do so tomorrow anyways so she could apologize, as well as obtain another fragment from him, which will surely make Himiko more impressed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and positive feedback~!

Coming to breakfast early like she usually does, Tenko was glad to see that Kaede and Tsumugi were the only two to arrive; no Rantaro. She wasn’t planning on apologizing to him in front of anyone and suspected that her guilt will weigh her down just by the sight of him.

Seeing that he wasn’t in the dining hall, she was certain that she’ll enjoy Kirumi’s amazing cooking without any problems. Unfortunately for her, that was not the case.  
As she chowed down on her omelet, Tenko found that sitting next to Kaede wasn’t the best choice; her professionally done nails proved to be a distraction.

Tenko couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of the pianist, she just looks so cute with those nails. She was positive that if she had her nails in such a style then she’d only be shunning it.

“Kaede, did you do your nails? They’re so pretty!” Tenko finally spoke up, complimenting the blonde in awe.

“What? No way, I suck at nail art,” Kaede gushed at the sudden compliment, “Rantaro did them for me.”

Tenko was shocked by that response, how could Kaede let a man get to her that easily?

“What?! Did you let him hold your hand?!”

“Well yeah, of course I did. I didn’t want to mess up his work.”

Tenko sighed, “Kaede, you shouldn't let a boy fool you so easily!”

“Oh come on, he won’t do anything bad,” Kaede tried to convey.

“Don’t be fooled! He’ll most likely break your heart!”

“Oh, so Rantaro will ‘most likely break my heart’ but Shuichi is ‘sexually harassing’ me?” Kaede puffed her cheek out in a frown.

Tenko was taken back by this; while she believes without a doubt that someone as modest as Shuichi could be hiding a much more vulgar persona, she couldn’t imagine Rantaro doing anything as extreme as any form of harassment. Of course there was a reason for that, and one that she thought good of.

“Rantaro will never do something like that! He wants me to teach him Neo-Aikido, and he knows very well that if he does such a thing as bad as harassment then I’ll not only stop teaching him, I’ll also break every last bone in his body!” Tenko declared boldly.

Yes, that’s the reason, or so she tells herself.

Kaede’s frown quickly changed into a sly grin. “Oh, I get it now… you’re jealous that Rantaro held my hand, aren’t you?”

Tenko found such an assumption to be ridiculous. Making physical hand contact was the reason as to what got her to flip Rantaro over in the first place, making him go unconscious.

“No way! I would never be jealous of such a thing!” Tenko defended herself.

“A tsundere crushing on a normie… those stories always tend to work that way,” Tsumugi spoke mostly to herself after observing silently for so long.

Being a fan of all things cute, it’s not too ironic that the brunette is aware of the term ‘tsundere’. “W-what?! I’m not a tsundere! Tsunderes are cute and I’m not cute at all!” Tenko stammered as she grew extremely flustered.

“Yes, denial is one of the biggest key elements to being a tsundere!” Tsumugi exclaimed excitedly.

Kirumi poked her head out of the Kitchen entrance way after hearing the chatter and asked if the girls were going to eat their food, which they answered by quickly returning to their meals, not wanting to disappoint their mother-in-denial.  
. . .

Seeing that it was free time, Tenko walked her way over to Rantaro, who was at the library.

Rantaro didn’t notice her presence, being much too focused on skimming through bookshelves as if he’s searching for something. Tenko found this to be very careless of him; when you’re in a place where murder is encouraged then it’s only logical that you keep all five of your senses intact and to always be aware of your surroundings.  
“Rantaro,” Tenko called out to him without much signs of hesitation for disrupting him, “I want to thank you for giving me a friendship fragment, even though I flipped you over and made you go unconscious.”

Being only half focused on her when she was talking to him, he had to process what she told him. Fully realizing what she said, he couldn't help chuckle a little at how straightforward she said it. “You don’t need to thank me, just the fact that you were willing to hang out with a guy like me is a reason enough to give you a fragment.”  
The way he phrased it showed signs of nothing more than a negative self-esteem. For if he really has a low self-esteem or he’s just being modest Tenko couldn’t tell, but she noticed on how they share the same problem. She could’ve easily found things to compliment him about, like how for a man he has a great fashion taste, but she decided against it, not wanting to compliment a male. ‘Well, anyway, I’m not here to observe him, I’m here to apologize.’

“Ah… well… I want to say sorry for flipping you over like that…” Tenko muttered as she fiddled with her fingers, “But… you should’ve pulled away! You saw me panicking!”

The way Tenko shifted the blame on to him reminded him a lot of his little sisters and how they’d tell him things like, ‘I’m sorry that I ate the cake that you were saving for the party big brother… but you should have hidden it better!’. Usually, in those situations, he’d scowl them a bit and easily forgive them due to their cute charms.

As to why he could forgive Tenko so easily he could not say, but he did just that.

“So you’re not mad!?” Tenko asked in surprise.

“Not at all. As you said, you were panicking.”

“Huh… that’s right! A degenerate male shouldn’t ever get mad at a girl-- they don’t have the rights!”

Rantaro gave her a stern look. This was something that he was good at, changing tones and expressions on a whim.

“What’s with that face? Did what I just said upset you? Because that’s just the truth!” Tenko went into an attack stance, not really planning on actually attacking.

A laugh slipped out of Rantaro, thus breaking his act. “No no, that’s not it. I was just seeing if you’d react like one of my sisters since you reminded me of her.”

Hearing that Rantaro has multiple sisters made Tenko squeal out in excitement. “You have sisters?! Kyaah~ you’re so lucky!”

Being an only child, Tenko loves the thought of having sisters of her very own.

Seeing her positive reaction, Rantaro decided to continue the topic about his sisters.

“Yep, I have twelve little sisters.”

“Twelve little sisters?! You should feel honored to live with that many sisters. I bet they’re all really cute too!”

“They are, they’re pretty great, really. Especially since they are able to put up with a big brother such as I.”

Tenko was about to say something similar to that, but hearing Rantaro say it himself so casually made her feel guilty for even thinking of saying it. She decided to brush that statement off.

“You have to let me meet your sisters!” Tenko beamed, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

“Sure, I just have to find them first…”

“...What?”

“They’re all missing at the moment, and I really want to find them.”

Tenko couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You lost them all?! We have to find them!”

“‘We’? You’d like to help me…?”

“Of course! ...Ah-! It’s not for you though!” she clarified.

“If you want to help me find them then you’ll have to be very serious about it.”

“I will! Twelve wonderful young girls getting lost is not a joke!”

“And you can never leave my side until we find them.”

“I’ll never! And you better not slack off!”

Tenko was completely determined into helping these girls that she agreed without a second thought. Being completely serious about this, Rantaro was happy to see that she was too.

“Good. Someone is actually willing to help me achieve my dream...”  
Tenko flinched. “I said this isn’t about you!”

Rantaro giggled at her reaction. When he smiles, it’s easier for her to notice how soft his cheeks look. Feeling a bit of heat come to her own cheeks, Tenko averted her glance. “C-come on,” she stuttered, “Let’s go outside so I could teach you more on Neo-Aikido.”

As she was walking through the halls she thought to herself, ‘What is this I’m feeling? I hate boys, I’d never let them get so close to me! I could already see Master shaking his head in disappointment…’.

 

A friendship fragment has been obtained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although she's no where near being completely in-love yet, I realize that I'm going to have to speed up her process in falling for him, seeing that there's only three more events to go.
> 
> Also this chapter runs on dialogue and one sentence paragraphs like why--


	3. Chapter 3

During breakfast at the dining hall, Tenko found herself glancing at Kaede’s nails once again.

Although she was sitting three seats on the other side from Kaede, that clearly didn’t stop her from getting absorbed by those stylish nails.

She wants her nails to be styled like that, they’re stylish yet practical for when she wants to do things like Neo-Aikido. But she doesn’t want to commit the act of requesting a male to do her nails for her.

But the nails aren’t the only things that caught her eye, for she noticed that a certain green-haired boy was watching her for a good twelve seconds.

Or perhaps he was just watching the adorable little pup that she was sitting next to known as Himiko, who was nibbling lazily on her croissant.

Tenko found the way the little girl nibbled to be one of the most adorable things that she has ever seen. Staring at the magician in a bit of a trance, she decided that she was going to spend her next free time for the day with her. Not only does the thought of spending the day with her idol excite Tenko, but she’ll also be taking a break from Rantaro.

As long as she was not spending time with him, those strange pesky thoughts and feelings she gets will surely wash away, right?

“Hey… suck up your drool before you contaminate my food,” the demand of a peeved-looking Himiko snapped her out of her thoughts, and she quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth.

. . .

There was no need for Tenko to track down Himiko, for she’s been following the girl since breakfast.

“Himiko! Himiko! How about you show me some of your amazing magic?” Tenko pestered, shaking her hands rapidly in excitement.

Himiko slightly grinned. “Hey, that’s a good idea,” she agreed, taking two steps back from Tenko, “Okay, I call this spell, ‘Smoke appears as Himiko magically disappears’!”

The straightforward title made it obvious that Himiko was just trying to escape, and Tenko was not going to let that happen.

“How about you show me a new spell?” Tenko quickly intervened before Himiko could go on with her act.

Seeing that she had used this escape plan multiple times on Tenko, Himiko figured that she’ll start to catch on at some point; and so it was time for plan B: show Tenko a bunch of pathetic ‘spells’ until she’s able to leave due to Tenko’s boredom.

“Alright then, I’m now going to cast a snow lion out of thin air!” Himiko announced dramatically. She waved her hand in circles and lightly pinched her forehead as if she was concentrating.

“And… done!” Himiko exclaimed, although, nothing appeared.

“Err… so where’s the snow lion?” Tenko asked. She looked around all areas of the room with a puzzled grin. There’s no way that she could miss something as big and noticeable as a lion; a snow lion, nonetheless.

“It’s probably somewhere in Russia. I never said that I was going to cast it here,” Himiko replied casually.

With such a lame trick, she was sure that not even someone as enthusiastic as Tenko would be impressed, but to her demise, Tenko was beyond amazed.

The brunette’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Wow! That’s amazing!” she squealed excitedly.

Seeing as there was no getting rid of her, Himiko let out a sigh of defeat.

Suddenly, the deal she made with Tenko popped up in her head, and she uttered what little hope she had left of Tenko leaving her alone, “So, have you gotten along with any of the guys yet…?”.

Tenko let out a gasp as if she has just remembered the deal she made with her. “Oh yeah! Look Himiko! I got along with Rantaro really well, see?” she pulled out her Monopad and showed Himiko her report card of Rantaro.

Himiko was more than surprised by this. “Wow, you really did…” she muttered as she stared down at the two friendship fragments.

“Yep, I’ve got not one, but two fragments! Aren’t you impressed by me?” Tenko gushed.

“Well I’m shocked, that’s for sure.”

“Can I have your friendship fragment now?”

“Oh, that’s right…” Himiko pulled out her Monopad and sent a fragment to Tenko.

Tenko squealed as if she has just been sent backstage passes to her favorite idol’s concert. “Thank you so much, Himiko!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Himiko replied nonchalantly, feeling a bit bummed out that Tenko was able to fulfill her deal so quickly.

For the rest of their free time, the two girls never had much of a conversation. Tenko would try to start things up and Himiko will give simple replies and decline her offers of doing any kind of activities.

Once their free time was over, Tenko returned back to her dorm. She was lying down on her stomach in her bed as she stared at the fragment she obtained from Himiko. She believed that she was happy, but after thinking about it she wasn’t so sure.

‘From how today turned out, it seems that Himiko isn’t actually interested in me at all and only gave me a fragment because I brought it up. That’s not really how friends bond, is it?’ Tenko asked herself. 

She felt troubled as if she was just cheating her way into being able to officially call Himiko her friend. 

‘Rantaro is giving me his fragments because he honestly wants to, right?’. After thinking it over, she was positive that he was giving her fragments because he genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. It surprised her on how she desperately wanted that to be the case. 

Even when he’s not around, she seems to still be getting these strange thoughts and feelings about him.

She just realized how much she has a desire to want to see him. She just spent her time with the girl that she idolized and who she was even able to get a friendship fragment out of, yet she wasn’t thinking about that. 

She was thinking about him.

About how he talks about his sisters so lovingly, and about the way he laughs off any nasty things she did or said to him. About how for a male, he’s so patient. About how he’s so gentle, being able to paint Kaede’s nails so smoothly. About how he’ll stop whatever it is that he’s doing and join her in Neo-Aikido as if he knows just how much it means to her.

She thought that these strange feelings will wash away if she's not with him, but the feelings only seemed to increased. She reasoned with herself that this wasn’t a sign of love, this was a sign of respect. Respect for the male that seemed to be someone who she can deem as worthy enough to be considered an acceptable human being for society, and far from a menace.

He is a special kind of male, and he is the male whom Tenko was going to hang out with for her next free time event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof-- I want to write more but the finals are coming.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Tenko skipped out of her room and realized that she was the first to wake up. It's usual for her to be the first one up, but she wasn't going to make much of an attempt to stay silent.

She marched her way excitedly towards Himiko's dorm room and stopped herself before she could knock on her door.

No, she can't force Himiko to be with her if she's ever going to get her to be friends with her, she should give her some space.

And so, she stepped down the stairs and stood in the middle of the dorm. She didn't know who to wake up, and she was beginning to feel lonely. 

Kirumi will soon wake up to set up breakfast, but Tenko was too impatient to wait.

She stared at Rantaro’s room door; she's planning on hanging out with him today, but… the thought of going to a boys room disgusted her. No, she should be honest with herself; she felt embarrassed, not disgusted.

Her ears perked when she heard a room door open and turned her attention to the sound. Luckily for her, it was only Kirumi, who has woken up earlier than she usually does.

“Good morning Kirumi! Can I ask you to do something for me?”

“Good morning to you too, Tenko. And I'll do any request you give me as long as I'm capable of it.”

“Thank you! So… uh… can you go wake up Rantaro for me?”

“Most certainly.”

Without any sign of being bothered, Kirumi walked over to Rantaro’s room door and knocked all the while making sure that she didn't wake up the others.

When she didn't get an answer, she called out to him but still did not receive a reply. With no answer from Rantaro’s end, Tenko quickly began to assume the worst of things. “H-hey, he's not dead, is he!?” 

“I'm sure that he's just gotten up early and is exploring the place,” Kirumi reasoned, “let me locate him on the map.”

Kirumi looked through her map and showed Tenko the location of the lowest floor. “You don't need to worry, he's in the library,” she assured her.

Tenko let out a sigh of relief. “Geez, why's he always at the library? The only reason I could think of why a man would be at the library a lot is that… is because…” Tenko stopped halfway as an assumption struck her. With this thought, she quickly thanked Kirumi and burst out running to the library.

She slammed the doors open and blurted out, “Put the book down, Rantaro!”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Rantaro felt all of his body jolt up straight. He looked at her, heart still beating, and asked, “What for!?”

Tenko marched towards him and observed him from all sides until she realized that he had nothing in his hands and he was far from the shelves that stored books filled with graphic imagery. 

“Oh… I'm sorry!! I thought you were looking at some r18 stuff!” she desperately apologized without trying to lie her way out.

“What!? Hey, do I actually seem like the kind of guy who'll be looking at those things…?” He asked with concern.

“No! It's just-” Tenko cut herself off before she could say ‘menaces always do dirty things like that’; saying such a thing will only imply that he's a menace, which is far from the right choice of words for him. “I just have this habit of thinking about the worst when it comes to guys.”

Rantaro looked a bit bothered by her explanation and she was confused as to why; she didn't believe that she said anything offending, but then again, she is oblivious. He then decided to speak. “Tenko, do you not trust me…? I know that I'm a really suspicious looking guy, but I promise you that I'm not bad.”

He's worried about his impression not being trustworthy, again. He seems so put off by the idea of having the Neo-Aikido master not trust him.

“You don't have to worry about that because I do trust you! You know, for a male,” she assured.

He thought about her words and began to think of something else, something that was still troubling him. Tenko needed to assure him that he doesn't bring out an impression as bad as he thinks he does, and she decided with the best way she knows how. “Hey, since we're up this early in the morning, how about we go outside and do some warm-ups for Neo-Aikido? I'm able to read the heart through a person's move!” 

Rantaro perked his head up, attention being caught by her claim. He honestly found that claim to be a bit silly, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He doesn't want to spoil her fun; plus, there's a part of him that wants to know what she'll say about his heart. So he agreed with her idea, and together, they went outside.

As they stood in an area full of grass, Tenko inhaled in and out, getting herself prepared. “Alright… to be honest, there is no warm-up, we just go straight to head to head,” she confessed, “that's a little listen for you on Neo-Aikido!” 

“Oh? Then what are you planning on do-” before Rantaro could finish his sentence he found himself being pinned to the floor as Tenko let out a mighty cry. It didn't hurt more than it surprised him. 

“Hey, what was that for?” he asked as he picked himself up off the ground and dusted off the dirt on his sleeve.

“Rantaro… you always reassure people that you're trustworthy, yet you don't seem to put trust in others. You're hiding a lot of secrets and are distancing yourself from the others, yet… it's so you don't worry anyone,” Tenko analyzed, “hey, if you're dealing with something tough, remember that you're not dealing with it alone. You should put your trust in us, it'll be easier to get through something when you have someone helping you out.”

She said this all while looking sincere as if she wants to see the best in him.

Rantaro was speechless, she was able to read right through him. “...I'll take your advice into consideration, Tenko,” he was able to say. She was glad to hear that response.

For the rest of the morning, they did lessons on Neo-Aikido until it was time for breakfast, and Tenko received her third friendship fragment.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Tenko found herself lying on the grass with Rantaro after some Neo-Aikido training. She wasn't tired, but once the green-haired boy let himself drop to the floor and heavily sighed everytime she told him to get up, she gave in and plopped down right next to him. The act he performed was childish for a boy like himself, but perhaps that shows how comfortable he is with her.

After a moment of laying down in silence, Tenko decided to bring up a conversation starter. “I wish there was a dojo for us to train in together,” she groaned.

“I'm sure you'll get a lab like that soon,” Rantaro replied.

“Soon is not enough! I need a dojo now!”

“I heard from the Monocubs that a new lab could open early if a murder has been committed.”

Tenko stood up on her elbows to face Rantaro. “Seriously!? Murder is bad, but if something as bad as a menace is the one who gets murdered, then I might be fine with that.”

Rantaro laughed, “Come on, you don't mean that.”

“Well, I mean, if someone has to get murdered, might as well let it be a male.”

“Really? So… you're fine if I get murdered…?”

Tenko almost choked from swallowing her saliva too quickly. She was so comfortable with Rantaro, that she totally forgot the fact that he was male. He didn't sound like he was joking with his question either, he sounded like what she said actually hurt him. ‘Great, I screwed up! Fix it, fix it!’

“I don't mean you, Rantaro! I just- I was just speaking out of excitement of getting a dojo! I- I just-!” she began to stumble over her words. She really didn't mean what she said, and she didn't know what she was thinking by saying that. Murder is bad, no matter who it is; maybe if someone was really dangerous… but they have to be incredibly dangerous!

“Hey, it's fine Tenko, don't worry about it,” Rantaro tried to calm her down after seeing how much of regret she showed.

The brunette whimpered as a way of guilt and laid back down. A sense of awkward silence was felt by the two as they blankly looked up to the empty blue sky.

“If you want… I could paint your nails for you,” Rantaro offered, breaking the silence.

“Paint my nails? Where'd you get the idea that I'd want that!?” Tenko asked, a bit taken back by the sudden offer.

“I've seen you staring at Kaede’s nails every time we sit down to eat breakfast,” he explained.

The Neo-Aikido master couldn't help blush from embarrassment at how he caught her staring every morning. Seeing how it looked like she was having a hard time debating, Rantaro added, “I don't have to touch your hand, you could just lie it down on a table.”

Not being sure if it was the better judgment of her, she accepted his offer. Seeing the smile he got from her answer made her smile a little herself.

And so Tenko now sat down on a seat in the corner from the hallway to the gym, waiting for Rantaro to get some nail polish. 

As she waited, she had time to think about things to herself; like how she was going to let a male paint her nails for her, and how that male was considerate enough to not touch her hands as he did them, and how she didn't feel disgusted one bit about the offer he gave her.

Rantaro soon arrived with three bottles of nail polish, a box of tissues, and a clear sheet of plastic. “I'm here. Tsumugi was nice enough to lend me her nail polish, but she seemed a bit annoyed at me. I think she doesn't believe that I'll return her stuff, but I don't really blame her for how suspicious I seem.”

He set the materials down on the small table and sat down on the seat across from her. She placed her left hand on the table and starred eagerly at her nails. Kaede’s nails were very cute, and she was excited to see how those nails will turn out on her. Although examining the three colours, she noticed how they were completely different from Kaede’s pink colour of her nails. There was a pure white and two shades of green, one was a warm tone and the other being much lighter.

“I have a special design for you,” Rantaro said, “I hope you'll like it.”

He began to paint her nails halfway with the warm green, painting only the bottom part. As he did, he had to fight any temptation of wanting to grab a hold of any of her fingers to keep them steady.

Tenko shifted her focus from her nails to the way Rantaro’s hand moved; very gentle and calm, not shaking in the slightest. ‘Can a male be this gentle…?’

He finished off the colour with her left hand and finished the right one right afterward. He then opened up the bottle with the lighter green and began to paint the empty parts of her upper nails. 

‘So this is a special design for me, huh…? Will it actually turn out looking cute on me? I'm not cute though, so it'll probably look out of place.’

After seeing the way he tapped with his free hand on the table, she said something that surprised even herself, “You could hold on to my finger if you want.”

Rantaro looked at her in surprise but didn’t make a move; how respectful. “I mean if it helps you paint my nails better than you can hold on to my finger. Besides, I’m sure that my powers won’t be drained; you know the arts of Neo-Aikido, after all!” Tenko encouraged him. She didn’t know if she was saying this more for him or herself. Would master allow this…?

Rantaro smiled with reassurance and took a hold of her finger, creating better, smoother results with the nail polish. As she watches him, she can’t help feeling a bit on edge. She shut her eyes tight, fearing that some of her strength will be drained. But soon she noticed that she didn’t feel any weaker, and she slowly opened her eyes. She was fine, perfectly fine. ‘So does this mean that master was wrong…? No way, master is never wrong! There must just be exceptions to this, exceptions like a very gentle and proper man. Very calm and understanding and… exceptions like Rantaro.’

After he finished painting all of her nails with the lighter green, he cleaned up a few dents with a tissue and told her to blow on them, and so she did. “Wait for a little for it to dry, I’m going to add a little something on to them,” Rantaro explained, “you only have one shade of green to you, but adding a lighter shade just seems so right that I can't pass them off.”

Tenko examined her nails and couldn’t help squeal a little; they were just so pretty. She loved them as they were, so she was curious to know what could make them better. She soon found out once Rantaro placed the plastic sheet on the nail of her index finger. It had a cut-out of a flower, and Rantaro began to paint with white on the cut-out. “I was going to add rhinestones on at first, but then I realized that those won’t be the best for when you want to form your hands into tight fists. Which is fine, because this just matches your hair ribbon better.”

Once he painted the flowers on to all of her nails, she jumped out of her chair excitedly and began to hop off the ground with joy. She doesn’t think that she’s ever sat down for that long, but it was definitely worth it, for she loved the finished result of her nails. It matches her perfectly, and the flower was a really cute touch. “Don’t let your nails touch anything until the white completely dries off, okay?” he instructed. 

From the way she spun around, her nails were probably already dry. Still, she assured him that she won’t touch anything with her nails; she doesn’t want to ruin them. 

Rantaro felt pleased with himself to see that he’s made her so happy, and he knew that he did for sure since she ran up to everyone she spotted so she could show off to them her nails. He found her reaction cute and really nostalgic.

Before they went separate ways, they exchanged friendship fragments with one another, and Tenko’s fourth friendship fragment from Rantaro was obtained.

. . .

The energetic girl sat on the edge of her bed, swinging her legs back and forth. She’s been staring at her nails for quite a while, passing on the time she had to sleep. She couldn’t help it; for once, she felt cute. These nails were specially done for her, and she found them to be gorgeous no matter how simple they are. She also couldn’t stop staring for these were the fingers that she allowed a male to touch, and yet, she was fine with that.  


The first time she hung out with Rantaro, she ended up flipping him unconscious for making contact with her hand, but now, she couldn’t help but feel like she wants to grab on to his hand once more and to feel his pulse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about make-up so if you do and are cringing right now by how I believe the process goes, I'm sorry (lol). Let's just pretend that this is the right way if it's not, I got reassurance from my ten-year-old sister.


	6. Chapter 6

Days ago, Monokuma announced something surprising to the ultimates; he announced that there will be a time limit, one that'll kill everyone if the time runs out and the only way to stop it is by committing a single murder. Since then, Rantaro has been caught up in trying to end the killing game.

This means that he hasn't been spending much time with the others; he hasn't been spending time with Tenko for days. But this didn't bother the aikido master, or at least, that's what she likes to make herself believe.

‘Stupid male, trying to solve such a big problem by himself,’ she thought, as she swiftly kicked into the air.

‘He spends time with me and then just throws me aside, that's typical of a male!’ she thrust out a heavy punch.

‘I don't care if he doesn't actually trust me enough to let me help him with his problems, I don't care!’ Tenko thought as she practiced Neo-Aikido alone.

‘I don't care, because in the end… he's a male, and males would only weaken a girl…’ she came to a stop when she noticed that she felt a strange sense of pain. She's not being touched by a male, and yet, she feels weak. “I should've just listened to master…”

Tenko decided to hang out with Himiko for as long as she can. ‘Just focus on Himiko; Himiko is cute, Himiko is small, Himiko has a high range voice, Himiko is like an idol, Himiko is a girl… Himiko's a girl and I really admire her! I really like girls, because girls don't hurt other girls like a boy does,’ Tenko excessively complimented Himiko for being an amazing, cute mage, ‘Himiko always shares her problems with me!’

Tenko ignores Himiko's complaints of her being too annoying. ‘Himiko doesn't hide her problems from me!’ Tenko hears the mage telling Kaede and Shuichi to help her get away from her. ‘Himiko… isn't afraid to tell me that I'm a problem.’

This doesn't discourage Tenko, it just makes her want to befriend Himiko even more. The time is passing, and Tenko is throwing herself even more into Himiko's life. Nothing else matters, Rantaro doesn't matter. Twenty-four more hours until the time limit runs out and Tenko’s only concern is for the life of Himiko and all the other girls. The boy's don't matter… Rantaro doesn't matter.

When the beloved nail art that Rantaro did for her began to wash away, she began to feel melancholy and an unexpected, uneasy feeling. 

Time is running out; she’s been with Himiko for so long, and yet… she's still thinking about Rantaro. ‘Rantaro’s only distancing himself from us because he's focused on ending the killing game to save us all, he cares about us! But why doesn't he just trust us? Why does he have to be so secretive?’ Tenko’s thoughts kept on shifting moods. Why she cares so much, she doesn't know, but she's trying not to think too much about it.

She looks at his report card; one more fragment needed, just one more fragment needed and their bond will be complete. But surely it won't end there, right? Rantaro’s been working to find a way to end the killing game, and once he does, they'll be together… to find his sisters! And even if it takes an eternity to find them, and she'll be having to spend her life with him, she's fine with that; she promised him, after all.

And suddenly, she's developed a fantasy of Rantaro, but perhaps her fantasy is becoming too strong because she's beginning to actually see him in front of her. “Tenko? Tenko… Tenko!”

She soon realized that he wasn't a fantasy, and he actually was standing right in front of her. “Are you okay? You seemed to have been zoning out,” he asked.

“Yes, I'm okay. Um… what is it that you want from me?”

“You’re going to meet me and the group at the game room, right?”

A meeting? Oh right, she remembers Himiko telling her something about that. The thought of Himiko made her realize that the small girl wasn’t anywhere nearby, showing Tenko just how distracted she was with her thoughts. “Uh, yeah, I’ll come with you guys. Um… I have to go find Himiko right now, okay?” Tenko seemed like she was in a hurry. Why did she want to walk away so badly? And why does just seeing the sight of Rantaro make her feel happy and yet nervous?

“Oh… alright, I’ll see you later then,” Rantaro waved to her goodbye.

“Yeah…” Tenko was about to walk away but stopped halfway, “Oh, and Rantaro, if you need any help, remember that you can talk to us.”

Rantaro smiled, “Thanks Tenko, if I need help, I’ll make sure to talk to you.”

Searching for Himiko, Tenko thought to herself, ‘’I’ll make sure to talk to you’, huh? I told him that he could talk to us… I guess that means he trusts me the most!’

. . .

One more hour until the time limit ends, and Tenko wasn’t feeling worried at all; Rantaro is going to find a way to end the killing game, and he’s been spending a lot of time in doing so. He wants to save everyone, even the menaces, and that was something to admire. And once this sickening game ends, maybe then Tenko could take a hold of his hand. Hold on, she’s with Himiko at the moment, so she should be paying attention to her. 

When walking to the game room, Tenko looked to her right and saw Rantaro, Angie being in between them. She gestured a small wave to him and he did the same; he had a grin on his face, a confident one.

. . .

The past minutes went by like a blur, only focusing on the obnoxious music that played in the background. But at some point, the time came into an abrupt. Silence, and… a sudden announcement about a body discovery at the library.

A body discovery at the library?

Tenko ran out of the room before anyone else and burst open the grand doors of the library, Kaede and Shuichi following right after. By the corner, she found blood, and a body laying on the floor; Rantaro.

He wasn’t asleep, he wasn’t unconscious, but Tenko couldn’t bring herself to believe in what was in front of her. Swooping down and taking a hold of his hand, she was immediately hit with reality; there wasn’t any warmth, there wasn’t any pulse at all, Rantaro Amami is dead. She heard Kaede’s voice, able to hear her terror but not what she was saying. Tenko wasn’t one to hide her emotions, and so she burst out screaming, her whole body shaking violently. 

Kaede and Shuichi believed that Rantaro was the mastermind, but Monokuma still being controlled proved otherwise. In a fit of panic, Tenko quickly began pointing fingers at every male; it has to be a male, only a menace could commit such a terrible crime as to murder Rantaro. She has no time to grief; she wants to avenge Rantaro’s death as quickly as she could.

Everyone began investigating, but Tenko couldn’t think straight. Rantaro Amami is dead now, and she began to feel that she never should’ve let him distance himself from her, that she should’ve forced her way into his life even if he wants otherwise, maybe then he wouldn’t have been the corpse that the others are investigating now as the first murder. 

Tenko won’t make that mistake again, Himiko’s still alive. For now on, doing Neo-Aikido and confessing to Rantaro would be nothing but a lost fantasy.

 

A friendship fragment could no longer be obtained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo-hoo! The final chapter! Now allow me to give you guys a little insight; this story was inspired by Tenko's reaction towards Rantaro's death, so the ending was always destined to happen.
> 
> BUT, I've been receiving comments from people talking about how they love how cute the story is, so I'll give you guys a happy ending: Just imagine Monokuma stopping the countdown halfway but instead of him doing it to announce the body discovery announcement, he does it to announce that the students will now be going through what we know as Salmon Mode because it's more in demand and killing games are no longer selling. And so Tenko and Rantaro's bond goes above and beyond, and they graduate and travel the world together to find Rantaro's lost sisters.


End file.
